CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ HYDERABAD l saturday l october 24, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION Double medallist shooter Mona Agarwal (C) will be one of flag-bearers | pci | p11 4-month job scheme soon to tackle impact of El Nino E x press N e w s S er v i c e @ Hyderabad Recipients pose for a photograph with Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla during the 41st edition of the Devi Awards ceremony held at ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad on Friday. Awardees from top left: Yakshi Deepthi Reddy (fashion designer and entrepreneur), Kalpana Ramesh (architect, designer and water conservationist), Vaishali Neotia (technology leader and entrepreneur), TNIE Group CEO Lakshmi Menon, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla, Niharika Konidela (actress, producer and entrepreneur), Kalyan Chakravarthy (Resident Editor of TNIE , Telangana). From left, first row: Vidya Rao (Thumri vocalist, researcher and writer), Dr Sirisha Senthil (ophthalmologist), Bompelly Bhavani (educator, social worker), Babburi Shirisha (junior linewoman), and P Anuradha Reddy (heritage activist) | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN Celebrating courage, conviction K h yat i S hah @ Hyderabad From breaking barriers to building new possibilities, the 41st edition of The New Indian Express Devi Awards celebrated women whose courage and conviction are changing society . Held at ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad on Friday, the awards recognised 10 women for their contributions across fields ranging from sports and healthcare to heritage conservation, education, cinema and the arts. Since its inception in Decem- ber 2014, the awards have honoured more than 480 women across 40 ceremonies in 10 states. Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, the chief guest, congratulated TNIE on the initiative and said women’s empowerment required equality free, dom, security and dignity . Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director of TNIE, and Lakshmi Menon, CEO of TNIE, welcomed the gathering and joined in felicitating the awardees. The Governor acknowledged Chawla, an old acquaintance from his MEET THE DEVIS time in Parliament, and praised the organisation for continuing to recognise women’s contributions to society . “In Indian culture, a woman is considered to be the goddess of knowledge, the goddess of strength and the goddess of power,” he said. He added that respect for women must extend beyond symbolism and translate into equal opportunities in everyday life. “True respect for women will only happen when there is equality freedom, security and , dignity,” Shukla said. “Women’s empowerment is not only for social justice, but also for the development of the country  .” continued on p4 The state government will launch a special scheme to tackle the impact of El Nino and provide employment for four months, from after Sankranti until the end of May . Announcing this on Friday , Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that, apart from funds received from the Centre under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the state government would also spend a substantial amount on the proposed scheme. Recalling the Janmabhoomi and Food for Work programmes implemented in undivided Andhra Pradesh, Revanth directed Panchayat Raj Minister D Anasuya and the Cabinet sub-committee on El Nino to work out the modalities for implementing the scheme. He also asked party leaders to suggest a suitable name for it. Drought conditions would Talks soon with Fadnavis on height of barrage: revanth | p5 state of the economy Festive cheer Net FDI inflows eludes Street went up 44% amid oil shock during Apr-Aug D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi INDIAN equities continue to bleed through the festive season when buying sentiment is typically strong. The benchmark indices—BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50—settled in the red in all four trading sessions of this week, with the broader indices facing a much steeper decline. On Friday the 30-share BSE Sensex opened higher but , later plunged 797.02 points, or 1.08%, to hit an intraday low of 72,452.37. It later recouped some losses to settle at 73,123.83, down 125.56 points, or 0.17%. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 87.65 points, or 0.39%, to close at 22,600 after tumbling 315.65 points, or 1.39%, to a low of 22,372 on Friday The Nif. ty Midcap 100 declined Friday’s 2.21% and the Nifty 74,000 73,249.39 close Smallcap 100 fell 2.94%. Previous 73,123.83 Investors lost over `20 close lakh crore this week as 73,000 the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed firms came down from `473.46 lakh crore to 72,000 9 am 11 am 1 pm 3 pm 4 pm `452.40 lakh crore. The decline is primaChange rily attributed to elevat-125.56 (-0.17%) ed crude oil prices amid growing tensions in West Asia. At about $116 per barrel, Brent crude oil is trading near a sixmonth high. For India, persistently high crude prices pose risks to imported inflation, corporate margins, and currency stability If oil prices remain high, it . could also lead to foreign fund outflows, further hurting domestic equities. “Indian markets are currently seeing selling pressure primarily due to global factors with elevated geopolitical tensions, rising bond yields and the sharp rise in crude oil prices, which increased concerns around inflation, margins and the current account. At the same time, tighter global liquidity and higher interest rates have reduced risk off sentiment,” said Shweta Rajani, associate director, Anand Rathi Wealth Ltd. Amid the exodus of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from Indian equity markets, net foreign direct investment inflows have provided a silver lining, rising 44% year-on-year to $13.8 billion during April-August 2026, up from $9.6 billion in the first five months of last fiscal. According to the RBI’s October bulletin released on Friday net FDI stood at $3.3 billion in August, supported , by sustained gross FDI inflows and a moderation in the pace of outward FDI. The RBI data showed that gross FDI inflows rose 20% y-o-y to $11.1 billion during the April-August peNet foreign direct and riod, while net outward portfolio investment FDI increased 26.5% to 2024-25 $17.7 billion, compared Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 with a 41.9% rise a year ago. In August, outward Net FDI 6.2 -2.8 -2.8 0.4 FDI flows moderated, Net FPI 0.9 19.9 -11.4 -5.9 with more than half di2025-26 (Provisional) rected towards Singapore, the Netherlands Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 and the US. Net FDI 5.2 2.1 -5.1 4.5 India recorded negaNet FPI 1.6 -5.7 -0.2 -13.5 tive net FDI flows from August to December 2025 2026-27 (Provisional) before recovering in the Q1 Q2 final quarter of the preNet FDI 3.1 10.7* vious financial year. In Net FPI -9.6 -0.3 the current financial year, net FDI again (Figures in $ bn) *Data for July-August slipped into negative territory in May and June as outward investments exceeded inward inflows. Financial services, communication services, computer services and manufacturing accounted for 73% of total FDI equity inflows during April-August 2026. Singapore, Japan, Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates and the US were the major sources of inward FDI, together accounting for around 81% of total inflows. The rebound in FDI comes amid a sustained sell-off by FPIs to the tune of $9.8 billion during April-August, data showed. RBI also reported a sharp rise in its net dollar purchases in August, buying $43.26 billion on a net basis. BSE sensex Source: RBI bulletin A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi Revanth sets target of 10K-15K people for Rahul’s Delhi meeting Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday directed Congress leaders to mobilise 10,000 to 15,000 people from Telangana for a public meeting to be organised by Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on November 1 to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. bring agricultural activities to a halt, making it difficult for labourers and other marginalised sections to find work, he said. At a meeting with Congress MLCs, MLAs and DCC presidents on El Nino, Revanth directed public representatives to visit villages for four months, from after Sankranti until the end of May, and interact with people affected by the conditions. He asked everyone, from ward members to MPs, to leave towns and tour villages. An app would be installed on public representatives’ mobile phones to monitor their visits. The situation could worsen to the extent that people might not even be able to step out of their homes, Revanth warned. The government could not overcome the crisis without creating awareness and involving people in efforts to address it, he said. Revanth said 15 lakh of the state’s 30 lakh agricultural pump sets had dried up. There would not be a drop of water for Rabi crops, as available supplies would be sufficient only for drinking water needs, leaving none for agriculture. He urged farmers to cultivate only vegetables.  continued on P2 express read LAC disturbances due to PLA patrol deviation: Centre New Delhi: INDIA and China continue to use established diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings along the LAC, the MEA said on Friday, amid a row over remarks by ITBP chief Shatrujeet Kapur about an ongoing face-off in Arunachal Pradesh | P7